In order for an infant to learn gross motor and other skills, it is preferable that the infant initially observe the task being performed (tertiary learning), and then is co-manipulated to perform the task (secondary learning), finally, the infant attempts to perform the task on his own (primary learning). In order to motivate the infant to learn and practice these skills, the parent physically plays with and verbally encourages the infant. The parent also provides toys so that the infant can play while learning and practising on his own. Typically, all of the infant's senses are utilized to teach and motivate him to learn.
Gross motor movement includes, but is not limited to, learning their own body scheme (where different parts of their body are); posture (the position of their body with respect to the surrounding space); proprioception (the position they are in ); co-ordinating the muscles of their gross motor system (to sit, walk, etc.); and vestibular movement (knowledge of and how to react to being up/down, spinning, falling, jumping, etc.). Herein the totality of those skills will be referred to as gross motor skills.
As the infant grows older, it is common to place him in a sitting position, initially with physical assistance to remain sitting, in order to teach the infant what a sitting position is like and to let him experience what can happen when in a sitting position. "U"-shaped cushions specifically adapted for supporting an infant in a sitting position are readily available. When an infant is about six months of age--more or less--it is common to place him in a sitting position and not provide supplemental support, in order to allow the infant to learn the gross motor skill of sitting without assistance.
When an infant is about six months of age--more or less--he can roll around on the floor and, eventually, pull himself around, ultimately progressing to crawling. As an infant progresses to the walking stage, it is common for an adult to hold the infant in an upright standing position by using their hands grasping around the infant's torso. The infant can then, through his own will, move his legs and arms, can bend forwardly, and so on, in order to learn gross motor skills by performing them. Familiar visual, tactile, and auditory feedback, combined with the security of being supported, provide sufficient confidence for the infant to learn through trial and error.
All of these gross motor skills are learned by trying various movements and receiving feedback from various senses regarding these movements, the infant's surroundings, and the results of the movements in the surroundings. In order for proper learning to take place, various senses produce feedback that permit the infant to learn. For instance, visual feedback permits the infant to know the location of various surroundings, and also whether parent is there for support; auditory feedback permits the infant to receive instructions, encouragement, and warnings from a parent, among other things; tactile feedback permits an infant to determine his specific whereabouts with respect to an object, such as a floor or something to hold on to; vestibular apparatus to provide feedback regarding orientation and balance; and so on.
As the infant learns through trial and error, during many hours of practice of various motor movements every day for several months, the infant is learning a great deal through all of his senses. All of the feedback information is received on an ongoing basis over a significant period of time, and is necessary to allow an infant to learn gross motor skills.
However, if an infant is blind or deaf, the amount of environmental stimulation, and thus motivation, is substantially reduced compared to sighted or hearing infants. If this same infant is also physically or mentally disabled, or both, the intake of information is reduced further still and may be processed in an unusual or faulty manner, thus making it even more difficult or seemingly difficult to learn. Accordingly, learning gross motor skills is typically more difficult and occurs at a later stage when the child is physically heavier, takes a longer time and more practice to learn, and puts a greater physical strain on the parent to support the child.
For instance, if an infant is visually impaired and, therefore, cannot receive significant visual feedback, he will have trouble establishing an upright orientation and will have difficulty knowing what his immediate surroundings are, except for what can be randomly felt. His only feedback is tactile (namely, touching his surroundings) and auditory (namely, receiving instructions, encouragement, and warnings from a parent). Accordingly, he lacks confidence and is very hesitant to move from a given "safe" position to an unknown position.
For an infant who is multi-sensory deprived, such as visually impaired and hearing impaired, there is neither significant auditory feedback nor significant visual feedback received. Typically, such an infant is even more hesitant to move from a given position than is an infant who is only single sensory deprived. Such hesitation to move from a given position may be even more pronounced when such an infant is in a standing position, where the gross motor skills needed to walk are quite complex. Indeed, to cast this task in a more familiar light, it is difficult for a full sensory, non-handicapped adult to learn a complicated motor skill, and such an adult typically learns a complicated motor skill, such as skating, for example, slowly and possibly hesitantly.
Some infants have special needs beyond the multi-sensory (visual and auditory) impairments, possibly also having physical or mental disabilities which impede their learning of gross motor skills. Such disabilities include Cerebral Palsy (CP), Downs Syndrome, and so on. These infants receive very minimal feedback about what happens as a result of gross motor movement, have difficulty in learning about their own bodies, are unsure about where their bodies begin and end, and are afraid to move out of any given position. It is extremely difficult to teach gross motor skills to such infants.
Indeed, it is believed by the medical profession at large, that multi-sensory deprived infants cannot fully learn gross motor skills, since they learn so slowly. The prevailing method within the medical profession at large to teach gross motor skills (i.e.: walking) to multi-sensory deprived and severely mentally and physically challenged infants and children involves placing the child in a supine orientation onto a mat on the floor. The infant's arm and legs are physically moved by an attendant to provide feedback about arm and leg movement, in hope that the child might, to some degree, try to emulate such movement. Such therapy typically takes place only one or twice a week, for perhaps half an hour at a time. In this way a child does not actually practice the gross motor skill to be learned. With such a manner of training, a child only learns through secondary learning, which is not as effective as primary learning, which is achieved by practising the specific gross motor skill themselves. Moreover, if a multi-sensory deprived child is blind, he cannot utilize tertiary learning (observing someone else performing the task or skill), thus further impeding the learning process. Moreover, a very insignificant amount of feedback is received, on an overall basis, and accordingly, multi-sensory deprived infants do not learn gross motor skills in this manner.
It can readily be seen that using therapy in this manner to teach gross motor skills even to a full sensory infant would produce very slow results, as the infant would not actually be practising the specific gross motor skill.
Another very important consideration in the development of a multi-sensory deprived infant is that of voluntary movement of various parts of his entire body to develop and to strengthen the muscles of the gross motor system for activities such as standing, jumping, spinning, and walking. Since such infants take much longer to learn and typically are active for only a brief portion of the day, it may take many months, or even years, to develop and strengthen the muscles of the gross motor system, and develop gross motor skills. Further, such difficulty in strengthening the body also extends to the lungs, heart, and so on.
In addition to gross motor skill training of multi-sensory deprived toddlers rehabilitative gross motor skill training--or, in other words rehabilitation--is often needed by toddlers, children, young adults, and even adults, who may have been injured in an accident, suffered a stroke, become blind, and so on.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for supporting a motor-skill challenged human trainee while learning gross motor skills.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for supporting a multi-sensory deprived motor-skill challenged human trainee while learning gross motor skills.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for supporting a multi-sensory deprived motor-skill challenged human trainee while permitting the specific practice of gross motor skills.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for supporting a motor-skill challenged human trainee while permitting primary and secondary practice of gross motor skills.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for supporting a motor-skill challenged human trainee while permitting the exercise of their gross motor muscles and strengthening of their cardiovascular, respiratory, and circulatory systems.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for supporting a motor-skill challenged human trainee in a manner that permits and encourages substantially lengthy periods of training and exercise, while reducing the physical stress on the human trainee.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that permits a motor-skill challenged human trainee, such as those who are multi-sensory deprived or have physical or mental disabilities, including toddlers, children, young adults, and adults, to learn, practice, and maintain gross motor skills.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rehabilitation device.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for supporting a motor-skill challenged human trainee while learning gross motor skills, wherein the apparatus is suspended from an elevated support structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for supporting a motor-skill challenged human trainee while learning gross motor skills, wherein the human trainee is in an upright orientation.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for supporting a motor-skill challenged human trainee while learning gross motor skills, wherein the human trainee is in an upright orientation, and wherein the human trainee cannot tip the apparatus over.